Rev. Ted E. Huffman

Shaped by a World of Books

Stained

The Ulasich's got a lot of things right in their time of travel and living with people in diverse cultures and locations. They took with them skills of careful observation and the capacity to listen attentively. Unlike some who go to places of suffering thinking that they are the bearers of solutions, they were able to go, live with, and participate in the lives of those they met.

This book shows remarkable respect for those they have known. They were not careful to print photos that told someone else's story or to show faces of vulnerable individuals in a way that might betray the trust that they clearly earned.

Of course no one book can be a window that reveals the world to those who take a look through it to the stories that lie beyond, but this book is definitely one window that has been opened with respect, care and diligence to reveal a world that is seldom glimpsed by those of us who remain within the comfort of our lives of privilege.

The book is a delight and a treasure to which one will return again and again.

Exploring the books I have read

I love to read and I believe that the books I read shape the person I am. So I have kept a book blog for many years as a way to let others know what books are influencing my thinking.

When I was a schoolchild, I sometimes was late in turning in my book reports. While my teachers thought that the reason was that I was slow to read the books, the reality was that I would read several books and had trouble deciding which to submit in my report. I still have a similar problem. I generally have a stack of books that I have read sitting next to my desk waiting my reviews. Even though I write relatively short reviews for my book blog, I am almost constantly behind.

When I uploaded my new site in October, 2016, I resolved to re-do my book blog, so I don't have all of my old book archives available here yet. I will keep posting both new books that I have read and re-worked blog posts from previous years. Hopefully readers will be able to get a picture of my reading patterns as new titles appear.